WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria last month has been met with no shortage of condemnation over the perception that America would be abandoning its Kurdish partners on the ground in the country. The move would open them up to an incursion from NATO ally Turkey, which has…

DAMASCUS, SYRIA — As things in Syria seem poised to heat up dramatically in the coming weeks, CNN has reported that Russia has warned the U.S. that the Russian and Syrian militaries are prepared to launch an offensive on the Al-Tanf military base in Syria, an installation that has been controlled by the U.S. military…

MANBIJ, SYRIA – After meeting with Turkish leadership over the weekend, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) made a “surprise visit” on Monday to Manbij, where they met with members of Manbij Military Council (MMC), a Kurdish militia that operates as part of the umbrella group, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). After visiting…

DAMASCUS, SYRIA — For over a year, much of northeastern Syria has found itself under de facto occupation by the United States and its military proxy, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The occupied territory, accounting for nearly a third of Syria’s total landmass and including large portions of the al-Hasakah, al-Raqqa and Deir Ez-Zor regions,…

LONDON — Last year’s Washington-led coalition effort against the Islamic State (ISIS) group in the Syrian city of Raqqa included numerous “disproportionate or indiscriminate” attacks on the city, showing little regard for civilian lives and constituting potential war crimes, a new report by Amnesty International stated Tuesday. The campaign to seize Raqqa spanned June to…

WASHINGTON – Back in March, amid speculation that President Donald Trump would push for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, his administration froze $200 million in funds intended for “recovery efforts” in Syria. Those funds were intended to rebuild infrastructure such as roads, water lines and the power grid in areas of Syria decimated…

NEW YORK – On Monday, the New York Review of Books published an open letter and petition aimed at securing Western support for putting pressure on Turkey to end its occupation of Afrin, opposing further Turkish incursions into Syria, and backing autonomy for Rojava — the region of Northern Syria that has functioned autonomously since…

Sarah Abed is an independent journalist and political commentator.  She covers a broad range of issues relating to the Syrian war, Kurdish issues in Iraq and Syria, as well as U.S policy in the Middle East.  The following is an account of Sarah’s conversations with Aramean Christians living under Kurdish rule in occupied northern Syria, as…

Sarah Abed is an independent journalist and political commentator.  She covers a broad range of issues relating to the Syrian war, Kurdish issues in Iraq and Syria, as well as U.S policy in the Middle East.  The following is an account of Sarah’s conversations with Assyrian Christians living under Kurdish rule in occupied northern Syria,…

Moscow lashed out at the U.S. this morning, after the U.S.-led coalition in Syria carried out several “defensive” airstrikes against Syrian forces allied with President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday in Syria’s Deir al-Zor province – purportedly in retaliation for what the coalition said was an “unprovoked” attack on the U.S.-backed left-wing rebel group. In response, during a…